A properly made out prescription

Each prescription bears a number and it is divided into sections marked services provider, patient, branch of the National Healthcare Fund (NFZ), additional entitlements, the Rp [Latin: recipe, meaning the ready-made medicines or substances needed to prepare the medicament at the pharmacy], the percentage charge, the date of issue, the 'to be purchased from’ date, the details and signature of the physician, and the details of the entity printing the document.

Corrections to a prescription may only be made by the issuing person, with the exception of some specified cases when corrections can be made by the pharmacist dispensing the medicaments.

It is not allowed to place information or marks on a prescription which are not related to its intended use and might constitute advertising.

What should be put in the each specific section of a prescription?

The “services provider" section – should include the name of the healthcare establishment, the address of the venue where the consultation was provided, and the telephone number and the REGON [National Business Registry Number] of the establishment.

The “patient" section – should contain the personal data of the patient: the first name, the family name, the address and the age of the patient – if he or she is under 18 and cannot be identified by a PESEL [Polish Resident Identification Number] number. If the medicament is being prescribed for a child who does not have a PESEL, the prescription should show the number of the child’s guardian.

If the patient is a foreigner, the "patient" section should contain the number of the document entitling him or her to use the services of the healthcare system (issued by the appropriate foreign institution) or the number of the document with a photo confirming identity. If a foreigner is a holder of the Polish Charter, the section should give its number.

The “NFZ branch" section – here the physician is supposed to write the number of the voivodeship branch of the National Healthcare Fund relevant for the place of residence of the patient or the place of his/her military service.

The “additional entitlements" section – if the patient has these entitlements, the symbol for them is inserted here. The additional entitlements include, war invalids and repressed persons (code IB), military invalids (IW), and honorary blood donors (code ZK), If the patient does not have any additional entitlements, the physician should put an “X" in this section.

The “Rp" section - is where the physician writes the name of the medicine, its form, dosage, quantity and, in the case of a specially ordered medication, its composition.

The “percentage charge" section – the place to insert the level of the refund due (e.g. B - medicine free of charge, R - flat rate, 30/50/100 percent of charge).

The 'to be purchased from’ date – means the final date by which the medicine may be obtained. For most medicines it is 30 days, for antibiotics, seven, 14 days in the case of intoxicants, 90 days for immunological pharmaceuticals.

The "Details and signature of the physician" – this is the place to write the first name, the family name and the number of the license to practice. Details in this section, similarly to in the “services provider" section, should be inserted legibly, in the form of a print, a stamp or a sticker attached to the prescription in a way which makes it impossible to remove or destroy the print.

At the bottom of the prescription the name and address or the REGON number of the entity printing the prescription should be printed; if the prescription is printed by the physician – the phrase “own printout" should be used.

On the prescription the physician may additionally insert instructions for the immediate dispensing of the prescribed medicaments, for example by the notation “cito" (Latin - quickly), or a warning that the patient needs to be provided with the specified medication only, by a note “not replaceable" or “NZ".